Me, Karen, Ariel and Micha (Yep...she pushed the nugget during the run portion!)

Not enough to actually TRAIN…but still. It’s loads of fun to
do. I like the fun and anticipation of being at an event with a group of my
friends. It brings another level of energy to a race when you have friends to
cheer for and see while you’re running (or biking or swimming in this case).

The swim is 300 meters in a pool (thank goodness!), 13 miles
biking and 3.1 miles running.

This year I ended up nearer the front of the line at the
start of the swim than I ever have before. This was not due to any increase in
skill on my part…just a lack willingness of the other women to be in the front.

This year I remembered my gogglesJ

I started off with a decent rhythm for my breathing…every other
stroke ‘cause I can breathe on each side. But then something threw me off and I
got off rhythm and then out of breath. It happens every time. I can technically
do a flip turn, there just isn’t really any reason for it. I spent 3/4ths of
the swim doing the side stroke so I could keep my face out of the water and
breathe.

You always read about how your legs feel after the bike
portion. No one tells you about rubber legs after the swim!

Me, Cathie and Alice. We are all super soggy from the rain!

I’m not very good at the swimming, but I ROCK the
transition. Seriously. I was in and out within a minute. That gave me time to
fix my bike chain when it popped off as soon as I went around the corner;)

The two ladies I had seen in the transition passed me while
I was fussing with the chain. Then I got passed again by another lady! Not
good.

I managed to catch up with one of the ladies and pass her. She
wasn’t giving up though and put on a surge to get a head of me again. Right
about then another woman came up from behind and got in front of us. The two of
them laid down a couple of surges that I hung with. We were only at mile 4, so
I felt it was a bit early to be messing with that.

Holly, Alisha and Cathie showing off their numbers and calf muscles:)

The best part of the ride was when we passed a guy walking
his old dog. That dog didn’t give a flying crap about us. His owner moved over
to the side of the trail, but him? Nah. He was old…He just stood there with the
full body reaction of “Nope. Not moving. You can go around ME”. Loved itJ

I slipped on the wet ground (it was raining the entire
event) and nearly ate it in the bike/run transition but somehow managed not
stay on my feet. The spectators gasped a bit.

I’ve run marathons…I’ve run an Ultra, but the feeling in my
legs after the bike portion of a triathlon is the WORST. Your legs really DO
feel like tree trunks and your legs feel numb in a horrible kind of way. It
feels like you are landing flat on your feet with no push off…I can’t tell how
fast I’m running (or slow) except by monitoring my breathing. I can usually
manage to pass a few women in the run portion. It’s where I make up for my
weakness in the swim.

I’m not SURE how I did this year in comparison to last year
because I managed to not actually turn on my Garmin until the bike portion but
I think it’s at least comparable. I think I got 5th overall this
year.